Ray. I can’t believe Jesus is being outplayed by Blue Steel . World has killed the Celtics the last two games. For whatever reason, Ray is letting Wally do the only thing he can do well – take open spot up shots. Wally, he of the bone on bone nickname, is able to find ample room to get off his jumper despite Ray's best efforts. I don’t know why, but all of a sudden Ray looks old on defense. I hope his ankles aren’t flaring up. Regardless, this performance doesn’t give one confidence that he’s going to be able to lock up Rip Hamilton in the next round – assuming the Celts can stop gagging long enough to win two more games.
Coaching. In the battle of who can be least inept, Doc Rivers or Mike Brown, the guy with the fashion eyewear is winning. Unbelievable. Doc has suddenly reverted to his terrible coaching alter-ego of Glenn Rivers. Really Glenn? Big Baby in the fourth? Why do that but not put in Tony Allen to cover Wally for a spell in the second quarter when Wally was eating Ray’s lunch? And how about Eddie House? Is he on the team anymore? I don’t understand why he gets no burn while Sam the Shot Taker is (i) playing quite poorly offensively and (ii) playing horrible defense. At least with Eddie$ you get the same lack of defense but a guy who can play within our offense and not grind it to a screeching, disgusting halt.
Rondo. When Rajon doesn’t have the ball, the Cavs ignore him completely and will live with whatever he makes from the outside. I’d do the same thing if I were Mike Brown. Make Rajon prove that he can beat me. On the road, he has consistently failed this test in the playoffs. In addition to that, Rajon has become unable to finish at the rim consistently. My guess is that the beating he took from Josh Smith and now Lebron in the form of highlight reel quality blocked shots has affected Rajon’s confidence on the drive. Rajon has also been lit up by Delonte. DW is a nice player, but he’s not an elite point guard in the league. This shouldn’t be happening. Rondo simply needs to play better – I don’t know how he accomplishes it, but it’s clear he’s not playing his best.
Fans. I spend my game nights in our chat room. Road games have been….interesting. The level of negativity is unbelievable (ack I sound like Rick the Ruler). I realize everything I’ve written to this point is negative, but some dudes are taking it to a new level. For example, openly pining for Al Jefferson in the waning minutes of a road loss is not acceptable. Guys who do that should be ashamed of themselves. Obviously the lack of success on the road is frustrating and complaining is our right as fans, but wow that’s really taking it to a ridiculous level. Use today to complain and get it out of your systems. Wednesday needs to be all positivity.Pressure. Well now it’s on. The Celtics must win game 5. Given the road performances to date, no one can have any confidence in this team’s ability to get it done on the road down 3-2 should the Celts fail to hold serve on Wednesday.